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In November 2009 I went to the World Travel Market which is an annual event for people in the travel industry. As I went around the show I entered various competitions while speaking to the exhibitors.

Imagine my surprise a few days later when I had a call to say I had won a Nile Cruise for myself and one other! I was so excited.

I arranged which dates I could travel with the operator Sakkara Travel International and booked May 2010. We had won the Nile cruise itself but arranged our own flights and accommodation in Cairo with Sakkara also as we thought we may as well go and see the pyramids if we were going to Egypt.

The flights were with Egypt Air from London Heathrow so we drove down to Heathrow the night before the flight and stayed at the Thistle hotel. We left our car there. The hotel was very conveniently located to the airport and the standard of hotel was great. The breakfast selection was great. I would definitely recommend this hotel to anyone staying at Heathrow – the only thing that let it down was that we had to pay for the transfers where as some hotels have them complimentary.

Although I hadn’t flown with Egypt Air before but I would definitely recommend them now as they offered a great service. The flights were on time and everything ran smoothly.

On arrival into Cairo we were met by a representative from Sakkara and he helped us to check into where we were staying; Sheraton Cairo Hotel, Towers and Casino. The hotel is lovely with most local attractions, restaurants etc within walking distance.

On our first night as we arrived quite late we decided to eat in the hotel. We had a variety of restaurants to choose from but chose the Aladdin Restaurant. We sat out on the balcony area which overlooked the Nile. Not only was the view amazing but the food was delicious. I would highly recommend this restaurant to anyone staying at The Sheraton or nearby. The cost surprised me as it was very reasonable considering the location and standard of the hotel.

We had some tours in Cairo including the museums and of course the Pyramids. The pyramids are amazing; it is very difficult to describe as they are breath-taking but definitely worth a visit for anyone visiting Egypt. We stayed in Cairo for 2 nights which I think was just the right amount of time to see everything.

We then went onto Luxor ready to board the MS Monaco for our 7 night cruise. On arrival to the ship we didn’t know what to expect as neither of us had been onboard a cruise before. The MS Monaco staff were very welcoming and gave us chance to settle in. On our first night we stayed docked in Luxor so it gave us the opportunity to get used to the ship and also a chance to look around Luxor. We were introduced to our guide for the week who showed us around all the amazing places we visited while onboard the cruise.

We visited lots of different places including Valley of the Kings which I had particularly looked forward to as I had heard so much about it.

We were given some rest time on board the cruise and there was entertainment on each night if we required it. The food on board was delicious with a good variety each breakfast, lunch and dinner time. There was only one set menu each evening and if people didn’t like it the chef’s did their best to come up with an alternative. There was a wide selection of local dishes as well as International and the sea food selection had all been caught that day.

Some people choose to do just a four night cruise Luxor to Aswan (or vice versa) but we did the return journey so that we could see more places.

I would definitely recommend a Nile Cruise as a one off experience rather than a regular holiday destination as I feel once you have seen it all that’s it.

I would advise clients wanting to take children differently depending on the child’s age and life experiences. There were a couple of children onboard alongside us which is a great way for them to learn the history and culture but most children would find the experience very tiring (most starts were 6am).